1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer technology, and more particularly to methods, apparatus, and systems for displaying information.
2. Description of the Background Art
A computer user, hereinafter referred to as “end-user”, typically receives information from the computer via a peripheral device such as a display monitor or a sound device. For example, a notification text box may be displayed on the monitor after the completion of a task. As another example, a beeping sound may be emitted by the sound device in the event of an unrecoverable error.
Computer networks allow remotely located computers to pass messages to one another. These messages may contain various types of information. Typically, messages that pertain solely to the processing aspects of the computer (e.g., machine-related information) are processed without alerting the end-user, while those directed to the end-user are displayed on the monitor for viewing. On the Internet, for example, an end-user gets bombarded with all sorts of messages as she navigates from one website to another. Most of these messages contain advertising information and are prominently displayed on the monitor, supposedly to attract the end-user's attention. Typically, these advertising messages are also designed such that the end-user has to take some action in order to get rid of them or view their contents. However, instead of getting the end-user's attention by prominently displaying the message or forcing the end-user to act on the message, the end-user usually gets annoyed and, as a result, instinctively removes the message without reading it.
From the foregoing, a more effective technique of presenting information to end-user is highly desirable.
The present invention relates to an improved technique for presenting information. The present invention may be used in a variety of applications including, without limitation, advertising over the Internet, network administration, client-server communications, and any application requiring presentation of information to an end-user.
In one embodiment, a message containing message information is received in an end-user's computer. The message information may include text, rich content, or a combination of both. A portion of the message information is first displayed in a caption area. Preferably, the caption area only has enough information to attract the end-user's attention, or provide a hint of the information contained in a subsequently displayed slider window area. This helps keep the size of the caption area to a minimum, thereby minimizing impact on the end-user's current activity.
In this embodiment, a slider window area containing another portion of the message information is displayed after the caption area. The slider window area may be displayed after a predetermined amount of time, or in response to the end-user acting on the caption area (e.g., by clicking on or moving a cursor over the caption area). Typically, the slider window area is larger than the caption area and contains more information. If the end-user has not acted on either the caption area or the slider window area, indicating that she is not interested in the presented message information, the slider window area automatically closes after a predetermined amount of time. Thus, the end-user can go about her activity without having to act on messages that do not interest her. In one embodiment involving the Internet, both the caption area and the slider window area are automatically closed when the end-user navigates to another web page.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the entirety of this disclosure, which includes the accompanying drawings and claims.
The use of the same reference label in different drawings indicates the same or like components.
In the present disclosure, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of system components and/or methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other systems, methods, components, materials, parts, and/or the like. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.
Referring to
A client computer 102 may be any type of computer that provides an end-user access to a network. In this embodiment, client computer 102 is a personal computer running either the Microsoft Windows™, Apple Macintosh™, Linux, or UNIX operating system. Client computer 102 includes a web browser 121 such as the Microsoft Internet Explore™ or Netscape Navigator™. An end-user on client computer 102 employs web browser 121 for viewing web pages stored on various websites on network 101. Client computer 102 also includes a message client system 122, which includes computer-readable program code (i.e., a set of computer instructions also known as “software”) for receiving, processing, and displaying various messages received over network 101. Message client system 122 is further discussed later on below in connection with
Referring back to
As shown in
A message server computer 104 also includes a message server system 142, which includes program code that allows the message server computer 104 to communicate with a client computer over network 101. Specifically in this embodiment, client computer 102 communicates with a message server computer 104 using a client-server type protocol.
As can be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the present invention is not limited to any specific type of messaging system. In another embodiment, the method and associated system for generating, transporting, and processing messages disclosed in U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/301,888, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR USING CONTINUOUS MESSAGING UNITS IN A NETWORK ARCHITECTURE,” filed on Jun. 29, 2001, by Eugene Veteska and Tony Martin, are employed. The just mentioned provisional application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In another embodiment, a message server computer is not employed; instead, messages containing information to be presented to the end-user are internally generated in client computer 102.
Referring to
A web browser application programming interface (API) 302 includes program code for allowing message client system 122 to communicate with web browser 121. In this embodiment, web browser API 302 monitors communications to and from web browser 121. This allows web browser API 302 to know the website 103 the end-user is currently on (or the web page 131 the end-user is currently viewing), and pass that knowledge to a message controller 303. Utilizing network communications engine 301, message controller 303 can then request message server computer 104 to provide client computer 102 the messages 141 most appropriate for that website 103. For example, when web browser API 302 determines that web browser 121 is currently pointing to a URL (uniform resource locator) of an on-line bookstore, message controller 303 is triggered to request message server computer 104 for messages 141 relating to books. The resulting messages 141 received in client computer 102 and provided to the end-user may include advertising information about newly released books, discounted books, other bookstore websites, etc.
Information contained in each message 141, hereinafter referred to as “message information,” may be presented to the end-user in various display formats. Accordingly, besides program code for requesting messages 141 from message server computer 104, message controller 303 also includes program code for routing a message 141 to the appropriate display format module (e.g., slider module 304, pop-up module 305).
In this embodiment, a slider module 304 includes program code for receiving, processing, and displaying message information.
In this embodiment, only caption area 401 is initially presented to the end-user. That is, slider 400 initially has the display format shown in
In this embodiment, caption area 401 is designed to have minimal information in order to occupy a small amount of display area. This allows caption area 401 to be presented to the end-user without severely disrupting the end-user's current activity. For example, a slider 400 with only caption area 401 (see
Once caption area 401 is displayed, slider window area 404 can thereafter be presented to the end-user. In one embodiment, slider window area 404 is presented to the end-user within a predetermined amount of time after caption area 401 is presented, and then closed after a predetermined amount of time. This advantageously allows presentation of the message information to the end-user without requiring the end-user to act on the slider (e.g., click on the slider). Further, by closing slider window area 404 after a predetermined amount of time, the end-user can simply ignore the message information if it does not interest her. This is in marked contrast to conventional display formats that have to be removed by the end-user.
In one embodiment, slider window area 404 is closed when the end-user navigates to a website or views another web page not pertinent to the current message information. In the bookstore example, the slider window area 404 containing the message about discounted books closes when the end-user navigates to a website relating to cars. At that point, the message information contained in both caption area 401 and slider window area 404 may be replaced by another message information, which is more pertinent to cars. In one embodiment, slider 400 (i.e., both caption area 401 and slider window area 404) goes away when the end-user navigates to another website or views another web page.
As shown in
Clicking on remove control button 402 removes slider 400 from the display monitor. Control button 402 gives the end-user the option to remove slider 400 when she is not interested in viewing any message information.
If the user does not click on an area of slider 400 after a predetermined amount of time, slider window area 404 will politely close as shown in
As can be appreciated, the present invention may be used in any application requiring presentation of information to an end-user. In an inter-office network, for example, a slider 400 may be used to announce employee training schedules. In that example, caption area 401 may read,
Referring back to
Display format modules other than slider module 304 and pop-up module 305 may also be employed in the present invention.
As shown in
A display rules field 703 contains a set of rules for displaying the message information. In one embodiment, display rules field 703 includes a rule specifying when to present the message information to the end-user. An example of such a rule is to present the message information to the end-user if she is viewing a certain web page on a certain website. In the bookstore example discussed above, a display rule may be specified such that the message information relating to discounted books will be shown to the end-user when her browser is pointed to the specific URL address “http://www.bookstore.com/”. Display rules field 703 may also be left blank to indicate that the message information must be displayed immediately. This is advantageous in situations where the message information is regarding an emergency (such as a network outage) or is a notification that somebody on the network is trying to get a hold of the end-user, for example.
An expiration field 704 indicates the date and time when the message 141 is to be purged from message cache 306 (see
Referring to
All. In action 801, message information to be presented to an end-user is received. In this embodiment, the message information is received by a slider display format module running in a client computer, and is part of a message (e.g., packet, datagram, a data unit, data structure) received from a remotely located message server computer. The message information may be provided by any source and by any means without detracting from the merits of the present invention.
In action 802, a caption area containing a first portion of the message information is displayed. In this embodiment, the caption area is displayed in response to the end-user navigating to a certain web page of a certain website. In other embodiments, the caption area is immediately displayed as soon as the message information is received by the display format module. The caption area may display text, rich content, or a combination of both. At any time after action 802, the end-user may save or discard the message information by clicking on a control button within the caption area.
In action 803, a slider window area containing a second portion of the message information is displayed. In this embodiment, the slider window area is displayed after a predetermined amount of time, which may be configured by the end-user or hard-coded in the display format module. The slider window area may also be displayed at any time after action 802 by having the end-user click on or place a cursor over the caption area.
In action 804, the slider window area is closed. In this embodiment, the slider window area is closed after a predetermined amount of time, which may be configured by the end-user or hard-coded in the display format module. In other embodiments, the slider window area is closed by having the end-user click anywhere on the caption area.
As indicated in actions 805 and 806, the slider window area is re-displayed when the end-user acts on it by clicking on or placing a cursor over the caption area.
As indicated in actions 805, 807, and 804, the slider window area remains closed as long as the message information remains relevant and the end-user has not acted on the caption area. In this embodiment, the message information remains relevant if it still relates to the current web page, the message containing it has not expired, or its display rule specifies that it should remain available.
As indicated in actions 805, 807, and 808, the caption area and/or the slider window area are removed from the end-user's display monitor when the end-user has not acted on the caption area and the message information is no longer relevant.
An improved technique for presenting information has been disclosed. While specific embodiments have been provided, it is to be understood that these embodiments are for illustration purposes and not limiting. For example, components described herein as program code may also be implemented in hardware or firmware. Many additional embodiments will be apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art reading this disclosure. Thus, the present invention is limited only by the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/347,921, filed Oct. 18, 2001 by United States Postal Service Express Mail Serial No. EL701362699US, entitled, “SYSTEM METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR COLLECTIG INFORMATION ABOUT A NETWORK USER” and which is incorporated by reference herein.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5327554 | Palazzi et al. | Jul 1994 | A |
5446919 | Wilkins | Aug 1995 | A |
5530852 | Meske et al. | Jun 1996 | A |
5584025 | Keithley et al. | Dec 1996 | A |
5615325 | Peden | Mar 1997 | A |
5642484 | Harrison, III et al. | Jun 1997 | A |
5649186 | Ferguson | Jul 1997 | A |
5680562 | Conrad et al. | Oct 1997 | A |
5704017 | Heckerman et al. | Dec 1997 | A |
5717923 | Dedrick | Feb 1998 | A |
5721908 | Lagarde et al. | Feb 1998 | A |
5754939 | Herz et al. | May 1998 | A |
5758257 | Herz et al. | May 1998 | A |
5761662 | Dasan | Jun 1998 | A |
5793972 | Shane | Aug 1998 | A |
5794259 | Kikinis | Aug 1998 | A |
5819092 | Ferguson et al. | Oct 1998 | A |
5835087 | Herz et al. | Nov 1998 | A |
5848396 | Gerace | Dec 1998 | A |
5854897 | Radziewicz et al. | Dec 1998 | A |
5862325 | Reed et al. | Jan 1999 | A |
5886683 | Tognazzini et al. | Mar 1999 | A |
5890152 | Rapaport et al. | Mar 1999 | A |
5893118 | Sonderegger | Apr 1999 | A |
5898434 | Small et al. | Apr 1999 | A |
5907838 | Miyasaka et al. | May 1999 | A |
5918014 | Robinson | Jun 1999 | A |
5920697 | Masters et al. | Jul 1999 | A |
5933811 | Angles et al. | Aug 1999 | A |
5937037 | Kamel et al. | Aug 1999 | A |
5937392 | Alberts | Aug 1999 | A |
5948061 | Merriman et al. | Sep 1999 | A |
5951300 | Brown | Sep 1999 | A |
5978807 | Mano et al. | Nov 1999 | A |
5978833 | Pashley et al. | Nov 1999 | A |
5991735 | Gerace | Nov 1999 | A |
5999526 | Garland et al. | Dec 1999 | A |
6006252 | Wolfe | Dec 1999 | A |
6011537 | Slotznick | Jan 2000 | A |
6026368 | Brown et al. | Feb 2000 | A |
6029141 | Bezos et al. | Feb 2000 | A |
6029182 | Nehab et al. | Feb 2000 | A |
6029195 | Herz | Feb 2000 | A |
6047327 | Tso et al. | Apr 2000 | A |
6073105 | Sutcliffe et al. | Jun 2000 | A |
6073241 | Rosenberg et al. | Jun 2000 | A |
6076166 | Moshfeghi et al. | Jun 2000 | A |
6088731 | Kiraly et al. | Jul 2000 | A |
6119098 | Guyot et al. | Sep 2000 | A |
6133912 | Montero | Oct 2000 | A |
6133918 | Conrad et al. | Oct 2000 | A |
6134532 | Lazarus et al. | Oct 2000 | A |
6141010 | Hoyle | Oct 2000 | A |
6144944 | Kurtzman, II et al. | Nov 2000 | A |
6151596 | Hosomi | Nov 2000 | A |
6157924 | Austin | Dec 2000 | A |
6182066 | Marques | Jan 2001 | B1 |
6183366 | Goldberg et al. | Feb 2001 | B1 |
6185558 | Bowman | Feb 2001 | B1 |
6202093 | Bolam et al. | Mar 2001 | B1 |
6222520 | Gerszberg et al. | Apr 2001 | B1 |
6253188 | Witek et al. | Jun 2001 | B1 |
6269361 | Davis et al. | Jul 2001 | B1 |
6280043 | Ohkawa | Aug 2001 | B1 |
6285987 | Roth et al. | Sep 2001 | B1 |
6286043 | Cuomo et al. | Sep 2001 | B1 |
6286045 | Griffith et al. | Sep 2001 | B1 |
6295061 | Park et al. | Sep 2001 | B1 |
6297819 | Furst | Oct 2001 | B1 |
6311194 | Sheth et al. | Oct 2001 | B1 |
6314451 | Landsman et al. | Nov 2001 | B1 |
6314457 | Schema et al. | Nov 2001 | B1 |
6317761 | Landsman et al. | Nov 2001 | B1 |
6321209 | Pasquali | Nov 2001 | B1 |
6324569 | Ogilvie et al. | Nov 2001 | B1 |
6347398 | Parthasarathy et al. | Feb 2002 | B1 |
6351279 | Sawyer | Feb 2002 | B1 |
6381742 | Forbes et al. | Apr 2002 | B2 |
6401075 | Mason et al. | Jun 2002 | B1 |
6434745 | Conley, Jr. et al. | Aug 2002 | B1 |
6438215 | Skladman et al. | Aug 2002 | B1 |
6446128 | Woods et al. | Sep 2002 | B1 |
6487538 | Gupta et al. | Nov 2002 | B1 |
6502076 | Smith | Dec 2002 | B1 |
6526411 | Ward | Feb 2003 | B1 |
6539375 | Kawasaki | Mar 2003 | B2 |
6584479 | Igarashi et al. | Jun 2003 | B2 |
6601041 | Brown et al. | Jul 2003 | B1 |
6606652 | Cohn et al. | Aug 2003 | B1 |
6622168 | Datta | Sep 2003 | B1 |
6678866 | Sugimoto et al. | Jan 2004 | B1 |
6721741 | Eyal et al. | Apr 2004 | B1 |
6760916 | Holtz et al. | Jul 2004 | B2 |
6801909 | Delgado et al. | Oct 2004 | B2 |
6892226 | Tso et al. | May 2005 | B1 |
6957390 | Tamir et al. | Oct 2005 | B2 |
6976090 | Ben-Shaul et al. | Dec 2005 | B2 |
6990633 | Miyasaka | Jan 2006 | B1 |
6993532 | Platt et al. | Jan 2006 | B1 |
7003734 | Gardner et al. | Feb 2006 | B1 |
7065550 | Raghunandan | Jun 2006 | B2 |
7133924 | Rosenberg et al. | Nov 2006 | B1 |
7149791 | Sears et al. | Dec 2006 | B2 |
7155729 | Andrew et al. | Dec 2006 | B1 |
7254547 | Beck et al. | Aug 2007 | B1 |
7454364 | Shkedi | Nov 2008 | B2 |
7464155 | Mousavi et al. | Dec 2008 | B2 |
7743340 | Horvitz et al. | Jun 2010 | B2 |
20010037240 | Marks et al. | Nov 2001 | A1 |
20010037488 | Lee | Nov 2001 | A1 |
20020002483 | Siegel et al. | Jan 2002 | A1 |
20020008703 | Merrill et al. | Jan 2002 | A1 |
20020010626 | Agmoni | Jan 2002 | A1 |
20020019763 | Linden et al. | Feb 2002 | A1 |
20020019834 | Vilcauskas, Jr. et al. | Feb 2002 | A1 |
20020035568 | Benthin | Mar 2002 | A1 |
20020040374 | Kent | Apr 2002 | A1 |
20020049633 | Pasquali | Apr 2002 | A1 |
20020052785 | Tenenbaum | May 2002 | A1 |
20020053078 | Holtz et al. | May 2002 | A1 |
20020054089 | Nicholas | May 2002 | A1 |
20020057285 | Nicholas, III | May 2002 | A1 |
20020059099 | Coletta | May 2002 | A1 |
20020065802 | Uchiyama | May 2002 | A1 |
20020085027 | Kim | Jul 2002 | A1 |
20020087499 | Stockfisch | Jul 2002 | A1 |
20020094868 | Tuck et al. | Jul 2002 | A1 |
20020128904 | Carruthers et al. | Sep 2002 | A1 |
20020128908 | Levin et al. | Sep 2002 | A1 |
20020154163 | Melchner | Oct 2002 | A1 |
20020156812 | Krasnoiarov et al. | Oct 2002 | A1 |
20020169670 | Barsade et al. | Nov 2002 | A1 |
20020171682 | Frank et al. | Nov 2002 | A1 |
20020175947 | Conrad et al. | Nov 2002 | A1 |
20020194151 | Fenton et al. | Dec 2002 | A1 |
20030005134 | Martin et al. | Jan 2003 | A1 |
20030011639 | Webb | Jan 2003 | A1 |
20030014304 | Calvert et al. | Jan 2003 | A1 |
20030041050 | Smith et al. | Feb 2003 | A1 |
20030050863 | Radwin | Mar 2003 | A1 |
20030052913 | Barile | Mar 2003 | A1 |
20030110080 | Tsutani et al. | Jun 2003 | A1 |
20030176931 | Pednault et al. | Sep 2003 | A1 |
20030182184 | Strasnick et al. | Sep 2003 | A1 |
20030220091 | Farrand et al. | Nov 2003 | A1 |
20030229542 | Morrisroe | Dec 2003 | A1 |
20040030798 | Anderson et al. | Feb 2004 | A1 |
20040044677 | Huper-Graff et al. | Mar 2004 | A1 |
20040098449 | Bar-Lavi et al. | May 2004 | A1 |
20040162738 | Sanders et al. | Aug 2004 | A1 |
20040163101 | Swix et al. | Aug 2004 | A1 |
20040167928 | Anderson et al. | Aug 2004 | A1 |
20040181604 | Immonen | Sep 2004 | A1 |
20040193488 | Khoo et al. | Sep 2004 | A1 |
20040210533 | Picker et al. | Oct 2004 | A1 |
20040267723 | Bharat | Dec 2004 | A1 |
20050038819 | Hicken et al. | Feb 2005 | A1 |
20050102282 | Linden | May 2005 | A1 |
20050125382 | Karnawat et al. | Jun 2005 | A1 |
20050203796 | Anand et al. | Sep 2005 | A1 |
20050204148 | Mayo | Sep 2005 | A1 |
20050216572 | Tso et al. | Sep 2005 | A1 |
20060136528 | Martin et al. | Jun 2006 | A1 |
20060136728 | Gentry et al. | Jun 2006 | A1 |
20060235965 | Bennett et al. | Oct 2006 | A1 |
20060253432 | Eagle et al. | Nov 2006 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
1045547 | Oct 2000 | EP |
1154611 | Nov 2001 | EP |
3-43825 | Feb 1991 | JP |
11066099 | Mar 1999 | JP |
2001-147894 | May 2001 | JP |
20010222535 | Aug 2001 | JP |
2002024221 | Jan 2002 | JP |
2003058572 | Feb 2003 | JP |
20030271647 | Sep 2003 | JP |
WO 9959097 | Nov 1999 | WO |
WO 0004434 | Jan 2000 | WO |
WO 0103028 | Jan 2001 | WO |
WO 0115052 | Mar 2001 | WO |
WO 0139024 | May 2001 | WO |
WO 0169929 | Sep 2001 | WO |
WO 0190917 | Nov 2001 | WO |
WO 0244869 | Jun 2002 | WO |
Entry |
---|
IRTORG—Internet Related Technologies, “irt.org—JavaScript Windows FAQ Knowledge Base”, Jun. 3, 2000. Webpage [online] [retrieved on Dec. 19, 2005]. Retrieved from the Internet<URL:http://web.archive.org/web/20000619232700/developer.irt.org/script/window.htm>. |
Heinle et al., “Designing with JavaScript Creating Dynamic Web Pages”, Sep. 1997, pp. 1-33, 46, 83. |
Codelifter.com: JavaScript Index Windows and Frames, [online] [retrieved on Dec. 19, 2005]. Retrieved from the Intemet<URL://http://www.codelifater.com/main/javascript/index—windowframes.html>. |
Supplementary European Search Report for EP Application No. 02 77 8589 (2 sheets). |
Keys, “Every Possible Internet Advertisement Drastic Increase of Click Through Rate by Interactivity and Multimedia”, Nikkei Internet Technology, Jan. issue of 1999, Dec. 22, 1998, vol. 18, pp. 118-127. |
Takahashi, “JavaScript Lab. Safe Control of Pop-up Windows”, Web Designing (separate volume of Mac Fan of Jun. 10 issue), Mainichi Communications Inc., Jun. 10, 2001, No. 9 vol. 12, pp. 86-89. |
Japanese Patent Office, Official Action issued Dec. 17, 2010, mailed Dec. 27, 2010 in Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-528053 (non-official translation), 7 pgs. |
ACM Portal USPTO Search, “Communications of the ACM: vol. 52, Issue 1”, Association for Computing Machinery, dated Jan. 2009, 1 page. |
Aggarwal, Charu C. et al. 2001. Intelligent Crawling on the World Wide Web with Arbitrary Predicates. ACM, pp. 96-105. |
BackWeb Technologies Ltd., BackWEB User's Guide, 1997, [48 pgs.]. |
Claypool, et al., Inferring User Interest, Worcester Polytechnic Inst., IEEE Internet Computing, Nov.-Dec. 2001, pp. 32-39 [8 pgs.]. |
comScore Marketing Solutions and Media Metrix (9 sheets), webpage) [online), 2003 comScore Networks, Inc. (retrieved on Oct. 8, 2003), retrieved from the intemet: <URL:http://vAvw.comscore.com>. |
Copernic, Copernic: Software to Search, Find, and Manage Information, Copernic Technologies, Inc. 2004, 2 pgs. (retrieved on Apr. 6, 2004). Retrieved from the Internet<URL:http://www.copernic.com/en/index.html>. |
Diligenti, Michelangelo et al. 2004. A Unified Probalistic Framework for Web Page Scoring Systems. IEEE, vol. 16, No. 1. Jan. 2004, pp. 4-16. |
Dogpile, Dogpile Web Search Home Page, InfoSpace, Inc. 2004, p. 1 of 1, (retrieved on Apr. 1, 2004). Retrieved from the Internet: <URL:http://www.dogpile.com.html>. |
European Search Report for Application No. EP 06 01 3103 (2 sheets). |
Favela, Jesus et al. 1997. Image-Retrieval Agent: Integrating Image Content and Text. IEE, vol. 1.14, pp. 36-39. |
Foreign Examination Report cited in corresponding Great Britain application, GB0724938.6, dated Jan 11, 2010, 2 pages. |
Google Search, “Result Search Query Build Search Engine Index Using Gather Consumer Navigate Search”, http://scholar.google.com/scholar, dated Apr. 7, 2010, 3 pages. |
Hancock, Wayland, “A new way to get information from the Internet,” American Agent & Broker, Nov. 1997, 69, 11, pp. 65-66 [2 pgs.]. |
Hongyu Liu et al., “Focused Crawling by Learning HMM from User's Topic-Specific Browsing” Proceedings of the IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence (WI '04) 0-7695-2100-2/04. |
Hun, Ke et al. 2003. A Probabilistic Model for Intelligent Web Crawlers. IEEE, pp. 278-282. |
International Preliminary Report on Patentability and Written Opinion in PCT Appln. No. PCT/US2005/029615, mailed Mar. 9, 2006. |
International Preliminary Report on Patentability and Written Opinion in PCT Appln. No. PCT/US2006/009954, mailed Aug. 30, 2006. |
International Search Report and Wrtitten Opinion in PCT Appln. No. PCT/US2006/025103, mailed Jan. 29, 2008. |
International Search Report in EP Appln. No. 05802579.2-1527, dated May 2, 2008. |
International Search Report in PCT Appln. No. PCT/US2005/029615, mailed Mar. 9, 2006. |
International Search Report in PCT Appln. No. PCT/US2006/009954, mailed Aug. 30, 2006. |
International Search Report in PCT Appln. No. PCT/US2007/061944, mailed Feb. 14, 2008. |
Kurohashi, Sadao, et al. 1997. The Method for Detecting Important Descriptions of a Word Based on its Density Distribution in Text. Information Processing Society of Japan. vol. 38, Issue No. 4 (Apr. 15, 1997), pp. 845-854. |
Leuski, Anton et al. 2000. Lighthouse: Showing the Way to Relevant Information. IEEE, Oct. 2000, pp. 125-129. |
Metacrawler, Web Search Home Page—MetaCrawler, InfoSpace, Inc. 2004, p. 1 of 1 (retrieved on Apr. 6, 2004), Retrieved from the internet: <URL:http://www.metacrawler.com.html>. |
Mitchell, T., “Decision Tree Learning Based on Machine Learning” (Apr. 5, 2003), lecture slides for textbook Machine Learning, McGraw Hill, 1997, pp. 46-74 [29 pgs.]. |
Montgomery, Alan et al., Learning About Customers Without Asking, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business, Jan. 2002 [35 pgs.]. |
Netscape Communications Corp., Netcaster Developer's Guide, Netscape Communicator, Sep. 25, 1997 [112 pgs.]. |
NielsenllNetRatings (24 sheets), webpage [online), 2003 NetRatings, Inc. (retrieved on Oct. 8, 2003), retrieved from the intemet: <URL:http://www.nielsen-netratings.com>. |
Nilsson, B. A., and Robb, J., “Invasion of the Webcasters,” PC World, vol. 15, No. 9 (Sep. 1997) p. 204-216 [9 pgs.]. |
Office Action mailed Oct. 10, 2007 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/207,590, filed Aug. 19, 2005. |
Office Action mailed Sep. 13, 2006 from U.S. Appl. No. 10/700,820, filed Nov. 4, 2003. |
Office Action mailed Oct. 16, 2008 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/207,590, filed Aug. 19, 2005. |
Office Action mailed Sep. 16, 2004 from U.S. Appl. No. 10/056,932, filed Jan. 25, 2002. |
Office Action mailed Mar. 18, 2005 from U.S. Appl. No. 10/056,932, filed Jan. 25, 2002. |
Office Action mailed Jun. 22, 2009 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/207,590, filed Aug. 19, 2005. |
Office Action mailed Jun. 24, 2008 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/207,592, filed Aug. 19, 2005. |
Office Action mailed May 24, 2007 from U.S. Appl. No. 10/700,820, filed Nov. 4, 2003. |
Office Action mailed Apr. 25, 2006 from U.S. Appl. No. 10/700,820, filed Nov. 4, 2003. |
Office Action mailed Feb. 25, 2009 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/207,592, filed Aug. 19, 2005. |
Office Action mailed Dec. 26, 2006 from U.S. Appl. No. 10/700,820, filed Nov. 4, 2003. |
Office Action mailed Mar. 26, 2010 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/207,590, filed Aug. 19, 2005. |
Office Action mailed Jul. 27, 2005 from U.S. Appl. No. 10/056,932, filed Jan. 25, 2002. |
Office Action mailed Oct. 27, 2010 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/207,590, filed Aug. 19, 2005. |
Office Action mailed Sep. 27, 2007 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/207,592, filed Aug. 19, 2005. |
Office Action mailed Nov. 28, 2006 from U.S. Appl. No. 10/227,168, filed Aug. 23, 2002. |
Office Action mailed Jul. 3, 2006 from U.S. Appl. No. 10/227,168, filed Aug. 23, 2002. |
Office Action mailed Sep. 5, 2003 from U.S. Appl. No. 10/056,932, filed Jan. 25, 2002. |
Office Action mailed May 7, 2004 from U.S. Appl. No. 10/056,932, filed Jan. 25, 2002. |
Office Action mailed Oct. 19, 2007 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/207,589, filed Aug. 19, 2005. |
Otsuka, Shingo, et al. 2004. The Analysis of Users Behavior Using Global Web Access Logs. IPSJ SIG Technical Report, vol. 2004 No. 71 (Jul. 13, 2004), pp. 17-24. |
PCT International Preliminary Report on Patentability, dated Jan. 9, 2008, for International Application No. PCT/US06/023386. |
PCT International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Feb 9, 2007, for International Application No. PCT/US07/061944. |
PCT International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Jul. 12, 2007, for International Application No. PCT/US06/023386. |
PCT International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Jul. 26, 2007, for International Application No. PCT/US06/025102. |
PCT International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Jun. 28, 2006, for International Application No. PCT/US06/025103. |
PCT International Search Report dated Jan 23, 2007, for International Application No. PCT/US06/025104. |
Shopping with WhenUShop, Webpage [on-line]; WhenU.com [retrieved on Mar. 19, 2002]. Retrieved from the Internet: URL:http://www.whenu.com. |
SideStep, The Traveler's Search Engine; Webpage (online) (retrieved on Oct. 7, 2004); retrieved from the Internet: <URL:http://www.sidestep.com/main.html. |
Soumen Chakrabarti et al., “Focused Crawling: A New Approach to Top-Specific Web Resource Discovery” Computer Networks 31 (1999), pp. 1623-1640. |
Supplemental Notice of Allowability from U.S. Appl. No. 11/207,589 filed Aug. 19, 2005. |
Visual Search ToolBar—Graphically Enhance Search Results, 2004 Viewpoint Corporation; Webpage [online] [retrieved on Oct. 7, 2004]; retrieved from the Internet: <URL:http://www.viewpoint.com/pub/toolbar/download.html. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20030145060 A1 | Jul 2003 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
60347921 | Oct 2001 | US |